Ivory Coast votes in parliament elections

The United Nations said its peacekeeping troops were on patrol during Sunday's parliamentary elections in Ivory Coast. The U.N. troops were on guard against possible trouble involving the party of strongman Laurent Gbagbo, whose refusal to step down after losing last year's presidential election triggered a round of violence in the African nation that left thousands dead. Gbagbo's Ivorian Popular Front is boycotting Sunday's election, claiming its members were subjected to intimidation and because they suspect the outcome has already been rigged by President Alassane Ouattara, the BBC said. The BBC said many Ivorians have taken a cool attitude toward the elections out of both fear of new violence and the limited authority the parliament has been given.